Time was, when the presence of Harold Ford Sr. was inescapable during an election year. That was during the 20-plus years when Ford, serving as Congressman from Memphis’ 9th District and as the city’s acknowledged political broker-in-chief, would put out a slate of recommended candidates, and woe be to those who weren’t on it, at least in the core precincts of Memphis
Ford was ultimately succeeded in office by his son, and Harold Ford Jr., who focused more on his national ambitions, didn’t pay the same heed to local political matters. The concept of the “Ford Ballot” increasingly became a non-factor at election time.
The senior Ford retired to Florida and used his influence on Memphis and Shelby County elections on a more or less ad hoc basis through the years. This remained the case even when Ford, who always found time to come back to Memphis on as as-needed basis, opened a plush, new, hypermodern funeral home on Sycamore Grove.
Well, the 2022 election season beckons, and Harold Ford Sr. has given indication that, in one form or another, he’ll be heard from in something like the old way.
When Memphis Democrats gathered for a pre-election forum at the Great Hall of Germantown on Wednesday night, and Memphis Councilman JB Smiley took his turn at the dais, Smiley spent much of his time talking about a lengthy conversation he had just had with Ford, and dilated at length on the political advice offered by the latter.
Ford is doing more than offering his advice. He turned up Thursday night for a rooftop fund-raiser and announcement event at the Memphian Hotel at Overton Square for County Commissioner Reginald Milton’s intended campaign for Juvenile Court Clerk.
Ford was there as a principal endorser and sponsor of Milton, and he was joined in that role by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, giving Milton’s kickoff a bit of extra adrenaline. (The Ford-Strickland duo was also a feature of the brief local Bloomberg-for-President campaign in 2020.)
In previous campaigns, Milton, who is term-limited and cannot run for reelection to the commission, has had premium sponsorships and no doubt will earn more before the campaign is over, but, being bracketed by Strickland and Ford was surely not a bad way to begin.
And that event, coupled with Smiley’s earlier remarks, gave fair notice that Harold Ford Sr. might not be finished with lending his political influence and advice for the coming season. Stay tuned.